- The Eiffel Tower was lit up for the first time since Friday's attacks in the national colors of red, white, and blue.Tonight we lit up — John Kerry (@JohnKerry)November 16, 2015
16:10 ET: France Just Can't Put Enough Boots on the Ground to Wipe Out the Islamic StateVICE News' Ryan Faith looks at the nuts and bolts of French President Francois Holland's declaration of war against "jihadist terrorism."Faith says that France fighting alone would have a good shot at taking Raqqa, the de-facto IS capital, but would have a hard time holding it against a sufficiently determined IS. So, he says, "Hollande will need to have something very visible and very decisive that he can order, short of invading the "caliphate" and ridding the world of its so-called government."Read more here.14:49 ET: Kerry arrives in Paris in show of U.S. support following attacksU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris on Monday to pay respects to those killed in last week's attacks in the French capital and to stress a shared resolve with a key ally in the war against Islamic State militants.Kerry arrived in Paris just three days after gunmen killed more than 130 people in attacks on bars, a concert hall and a soccer stadium in Paris. He is due to meet President Francois Hollande on Tuesday morning.
11:40am ET (5:40pm local time): No US Boots on the Ground in SyriaUS President Barack Obama has ruled out putting American troops on the ground to fight the Islamic State (IS), saying it "would be a mistake."Obama, speaking after a G20 leaders' summit in Turkey, said the US-led coalition fighting IS would redouble efforts to implement their current strategy in the wake of the Paris attacks rather than moving in a new direction."We are going to continue the strategy that has the best chance of working," Obama told a news conference."This is not a traditional military opponent. We can retake territory and as long as we keep our troops there we can hold it. But that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent, extremist groups," he added.Obama added that intelligence agencies have been concerned about a potential attack on the West for over a year but they did not pick up specific threats about an attack on Paris that would have enabled officials to stop the assault."There were no specific mentions of this particular attack that would give us a sense of something that we could provide French authorities, for example, or act on ourselves," he said.10:30am ET (4:30pm local time): "France Is at War," Says President HollandeFrench President Francois Hollande arrived at the Palace of Versailles to make a speech addressing an extraordinary session of the houses of both parliament and congress. This is only the second time this has happened, and so marks a highly symbolic event. Security has been extremely tight.Nouvelles couleurs — CamilleGuttin (@CamilleGuttin)November 16, 2015
7:32am ET (1:32pm local time): Police Operations Are Continuing in Brussels Suburb.BREAKING: Police raid at Rue Delaunoy is finished. Special Unit vehicles have now left. Salah Abdeslam not found. — Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan)November 16, 2015
7:21am ET (1:21pm local time): Islamic State Threatens Attack on Washington D.C. Islamic State (IS) militants have apparently today released a new propaganda video warning countries taking part in airstrikes against Syria and saying they will suffer the same fate as France. A speaker in the video also threatens an attack in Washington D.C."We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day God willing, like France's and by God, as we struck France in the centre of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington," the militant said.It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the video.6:23am ET (12:23pm local time): There's Disagreement on Whether Salah Abdeslam Has Been Arrested. Conflicting reports are circulating as to whether suspect Salah Abdeslam has been caught by police in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, where a police raid is ongoing. Belgian broadcaster RTL said he had been arrested, but prosecutors then told journalists that these reports were false.Salah's brother Ibrahim Abdeslam, 31, has been named as one of the suicide bombers who was involved in the attack on the Comptoir Voltaire cafe on Friday.Confused & jittery situation here in — Julian Druker (@Julian5News)November 16, 2015
Prosecutor says this is NOT Salah Abdeslam being arrested in this photo, currently on social media — Julian Druker (@Julian5News)November 16, 2015
6:10am ET (12:10pm local time): Paris Falls Silent at MiddayFrance held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the deadliest attacks on the country in decades.Media presence at the street of — Sándor Zsíros (@EuroSandor)November 16, 2015
5:50am ET (11:50am local time): The "Mastermind" of the Attacks Is Currently in Syria.There's more on the man named as having an involvement in the organization of the attacks — Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Abaaoud is a 27-year-old from the Brussels' suburb of Molenbeek and is believed to currently be in Syria.A source close to the French investigation told Reuters: "He appears to be the brains behind several planned attacks in Europe."5:45am ET (11:45am local time): Turkey Says It Warned France About One of the Alleged Suicide Bombers.Turkey notified France twice, in December 2014 and June 2015, about one of the attackers in Friday's suicide bombings and shootings in Paris that killed 129 people, a senior Turkish government official said on Monday.Turkey only received an information request from France about Ismael Omar Mostefai after Friday's attacks, the Turkish official said. Mostefai entered Turkey in 2013 but there was no record of him leaving again, the official said.
Police raid in Molenbeek continues. Dozens of officers here — Julian Druker (@Julian5News)November 16, 2015
5:22am ET (11:22am local time): 104 People Under House Arrest, According to French Interior MinisterFrench Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said that police conducted 168 raids overnight and 104 people have now been placed under house arrest.5:00am ET (11:00am local time): Belgian "Mastermind" of the Attacks NamedA French official has named the suspected Belgian "mastermind" of the attacks as Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The official — who did not want to be named because he was not supposed to speak to the media — told the Associated Press that Abaaoud is believed to have links to other failed attacks targeting a train and in a church in Paris.4:30am ET (10:30am local time): Two More Suicide Bombers Have Been Named.French prosecutors have named two attackers as Ahmad Al Mohammad and Samy Amimour.If the passport found beside him at the scene of the attacks was genuine, Al Mohammad came from Idlib, Syria. He was one of those who blew himself up at the Stade de France. According to the document, Al Mohammad was 25 and born on September 10, 1990. Greek officials say the passport holder arrived in Europe in October, traveling through the Greek island of Leros.Amimour was French, from the Paris suburb of Drancy, and was born on October 15, 1987. He was one of Bataclan theatre attackers. He was born on 15 October 1987 in Paris and also lived in Drancy.11:30pm ET (Sunday): French Police reportedly make arests during overnight raids all over the countryFrench antiterrorism police units reportedly conducted coordinated raids all over the country overnight, including in a Paris suburb. According to French news channel iTele, at least three people were arrested in an operation involving about 200 officers.Among the areas reportedly raided were Bobigny, a suburb of Paris; Calais, on the English Channel; Grenoble, a city in the southeast; and Toulouse, about 100 miles from the Spanish border. A photo taken in Toulouse appears to show several police vans traveling in a convoy.Follow VICE News on Twitter: @vicenewsBREAKING: Molenbeek raid ongoing in front of us. Masked uniformed and plainclothes officers, together with dogs. — Paul Brennan (@paulrbrennan)November 16, 2015